Reviews

Camden Crawl 2012 Review

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So the infamous Camden Crawl had a top Saturday to kick start the festival with Alabama 3, The Big Pink and The Futureheads headlining the bill. The festival is a steal at £65 for the weekend, giving you two days of roaming more than 50 of Camden’s clubs, pubs and other venues enjoying the best in upcoming music. There is something for everyone at the Crawl with karaoke and spoken-word included amongst all the live music performance.

Camden CrawlThe day kicked off in hardcore style with Bo Ningen giving it their all on the Redbull outdoor stage. The Japanese band played an energetic set ending in an eclipse of schreeching guitars and piercing vocals. Moving on and inside to The Abbey Tavern I was met with a crown packed to the doors for Peace. The Birmingham band played a quality set including debut track ‘BBlood’ and ‘Follow Baby’ which was a highlight. They bring a sound that could be considered new indie, with tracks drawing on bands such as Foals and Friendly Fires. The set was well received and there was a great atmosphere in the intimate venue.

They are certainly one to watch in the next few weeks with a gig at London’s 02 Academy Brixton (May 18th).

Following Peace, Sauna Youth played a small taster set before their 10.15 slot at the Barfly. Cramped into a corner of St Michaels Church the band – despite the loss of their sampler – gave a great performance that would surely tempt people to choose them over some of the bigger names in the late night slot.

Through the day I witnessed some superb new bands perform, with atheist band Hymns expanding their two-piece sound with two band members for performance in the Underworld. Sex Hands at The Black Cap were also a highlight, performing in the early evening, setting the bar for the much anticipated bands of the coming night.

I followed a huge surge of people eager for the headliners into Koko, and the venue was already reaching its capacity. Koko is an incredible venue and definitely stepped up the atmosphere compared to the more intimate venues earlier in the day. The Big Pink stepped out for their second appearance at Camden Crawl, and performed a lively set going hard with their synth-pop/electro-rock style. They pulled out tracks from their latest album ‘Future This’ mixed with Fan favourites like ‘Dominos’ that really flicked the switch on the crowd, and left everyone very excited for the evenings main act.

Camden Crawl

The Futureheads arrived with a purely acoustic set up, and gave an experimental set including more than a few songs performed acapella. They went with the raw style of their new album ‘Rant’, belting out tracks true to their hometown of Sunderland. Their were mixed reactions from the crowd who were met with an unexpected set that frontman Ross Millard explained was different in the wake of ‘Rant’. They ended the set with the most anticipated tune of the evening, their cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds Of Love’. The day ended on a high, and there were too many highlights to count from the Camden Crawl. An all over great day of music, a highly recommended festival if you love music and a good time!

By Lewis Rhodes

Click here to view photos by Lewis Rhodes

Fred Perry Subsonic Review by Gary Rampling

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So it's almost the end of 2011 and what better way to ring out the year then to the sounds of one of the best bands of the year; The Horrors. Their third album 'Skying' has enjoyed a healthy critical and commercial (No.5 in the UK album charts) response and it was brilliantly showcased at the Fred Perry Subsonic night at the Garage in Islington.

The Horrors were not the only impressive aspect of the night as their support came from Toy. A new band that helped create an atmosphere that would pulsate through the night. With a similar style to The Horrors, I'm sure many of The Horrors fans in attendance will be left curious by Toy as it's rare that support band leaves such a strong impression; a great advert for them.

The Horrors came out and frontman Faris Badwan explained that he hadn't been feeling too well recently, even having to cancel several recent performances. Faris would therefore be restricted to sit on a stool throughout the gig. This was not really an inconvenience and even seemed to compliment the raspy modest vocals that Faris contributes to The Horrors. Opener 'Changing the Rain' was a great indicator of things to come and songs such as 'Still Life' and 'Sea Within a Sea' kept the mood ticking brilliantly. The Horrors set however came to a close with 'Skying' Centre piece and set highlight; 'Moving Further Away'. This elongated version saw guitarist Joshua Hayward showing his raw ability before the songs epic conclusion, leaving everyone wanting more. However, that was it from The Horrors as a band, with the rest of the night being taken care of by guest DJ's (one being Horrors bassist Rhys Webb)

All in all it was a fantastic night at The Garage and the people at Fred Perry Subsonic will be hoping that this great success will continue throughout 2012.

Stereosonic 2011 Brisbane Review

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Stereosonic

With the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, Afrojack, The Bloody Beetroots, LMFAO and more, I knew I was in for a MASSIVE day. Stereosonic has a brilliant phone app (for iphones and android) that you can you use with event info, lineups, set times, maps and most importantly a planner. As there are multiple stages, this ensured that I saw everyone I wanted to.

We started off checking out what was on offer and easing into the day. We swanned between stages checking out the likes of Andy C and Bagraiders and the atmosphere was buzzing! I’ve got to say a definite highlight of my day was when the masked duo Bloody Beetroots played Warp. If you haven’t heard of this italian duo, they are definitely worth checking out.

Stereosonic is not just a day full of massive DJ’s and live acts, it is also a day where fashion takes on a whole new meaning. The costumes and getups were amazing but with most, it was a case of less is more. With most of the beautiful ladies opting to say no to material. Even though the event has a shirts on policy for the boys, by 5pm that policy went out the window. I have never been to an event with such little clothing on happy punters.

Now it was time to head to the mainstage. The sun was starting to set and as LMFAO hit the stage, the entire festival just went off! They started off with ‘Sorry For Party Rocking’ and of cause they were in their classic animal print and highlighter getups. They had the same backup dancers from their videos and they were amazing doing all the crazy moves that defy gravity. Sky Blu unfortunately wasn’t able to make the gig cause of a back injury but Redfoo was definitely capable of holding the gig by himself. The entire festival shuffled to I’m in Miami Bitch and Champagne Showers leaving their massive hits till last. I have never seen so many people shuffle, wiggle and and thrust their hips at one time when they encored with ‘Sexy and I Know It’.

When Armin van buuren hit the stage, it was pure brilliance. Even though tired after a day of dancing, you couldn’t help but stomp your feet with the massive tunes, pyro and fireworks, it was an awesome way to finish off the festival.

All in all, Stereosonic is always a super fun, super crowded day of dancing and good tunes. While it’s not an event for the faint of heart, it definitely came through with the goods this year.

Stereosonic

Photos courtesy of Rukes.com.

Bingley Music Live Review by Karen Creighton

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BML
 
Bingley Music Live (BML) started in 2007 and although it is only in its 5th year BML has been a sell out for the past 2 years. With weekend tickets only costing £35 I was very surprised at how good the line up was, definitely value for money, and they also seemed to have something for everyone with the line up having a variety of music types, from the folk-pop sound of Eliza Doolittle to the drum and bass sounds of Chase and Status.
 
The festival is also very keen to help bring money into its local community and does this by not having its own campsite and instead allowing local business’ with land to offer camping at a small cost to festival goers. However I must admit that when we first heard that the festival did not have its own camping we were slightly worried, but once we arrived at our campsite (which we found through the BML website) we soon forgot about our worries, the campsite was spacious, had food stalls and simply the nicest toilets I have ever seen at a festival campsite.
 
The main festival site was only a 15 minute walk from the campsite and once on site I was a little bit surprised at the size of the arena as I expected it to be bigger for the 15,000 festival goers that would be attending over the weekend, however no one appeared fazed by this and the size of the arena must have been deceiving, because once the crowds came in to enjoy the music and atmosphere it was never too crowded (unless you were in the mosh pit).
 
Bingley Music Live
 
Friday – BML hosts a free day on the Friday, where you can go and enjoy the music without having to pay to enter the arena. You would think with there being no charge for the day they would put on less than great acts but with the acts for the day being Alice Gold, Young Guns, The Go! Team, Skindred, and Fun Lovin’ Criminals, this was far from true and the day was a big success.

Saturday – With the arena being small we decided to check out Bingley’s town centre on Saturday and it was clear that many were doing the same, with the shops and restaurants being full with other festival goers. After grabbing some lunch in a little café we then headed over to the arena. We missed the first two acts but got there in time to catch the end of Dionne Bromfield’s set. We spent the rest of the day watching the other bands with Feeder being a big hit with the crowd. We were especially looking forward to seeing Maxïmo Park, and once onstage, though we personally thought they started off not so great they definitely got better to the end of their set, playing their better known songs, they put a great end to a good day. There were also some fireworks to watch before heading back to the campsite so all in all a really good day was had, even the rain had held back with only the odd drizzle earlier in the day.

Sunday – Started the day with a full English breakfast in one of the local cafes that opened on the Sunday especially to be able to feed us festival folk. It was another day with a chilled out atmosphere during the day with most just sat with a drink watching the first lot of bands and enjoying the sunshine. Sunday held a special treat for those who had access to the VIP/hospitality area; this was because Dynamo, the illusionist/magician had flown in from America to perform some tricks at BML. He even did a small performance just for press and posed for pictures.

My favourite act of the day had to be Eliza Doolittle, she sounded great and was the best kind of act to just relax in the sun and listen to. She even spent some time backstage posing with fans for pictures. The highlight of the evening though and what everyone was looking forward to was Chase and Status, and the crowd went crazy for them. They were definitely the best act to end the weekend, and just like Saturday night, the day was ended with a fireworks display.

Crowd

 

My personal experience of BML was great and I will definitely be going back. It has to be the best value for money festival around and although it is not a big festival and you didn’t get a true festival feeling from it, BML still had a friendly and fun feel to it.

SW4 2011 Review by Hannah Hassack

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Arriving for the Saturday line-up at about 2pm the party had very much already started. The queues of people waiting to get in moved at good speed and there was just enough time to swig a cider or 2 before we were in the middle of the action. And the mud.
 
The majority of people arrived at the event between 12pm and 4pm, wanting to make the most of the excellent value line-up. At £40 for an early bird ticket, SW4 attendees couldn’t deny they were getting a good deal, with a very similar line up to Creamfield’s at nearly half the cost.
 
With it being the first of the 2 day event which spans the August Bank Holiday weekend, the grass was fairly green when we descended, the facilities were in good nick and spirit levels were high (in terms of both vodka and mood) The general atmosphere can be described as Creamfield’s meets Park Life, which is unsurprising given the line-up. Dance lovers paradise, this wasn’t an event for the faint hearted. Forget flowers and mellow swaying, think welly-stomping and glow-sticks!
 
The weather was predictably unpredictable; swinging between bouts of strong sunshine and bursts of rain, but people spirits weren’t dampened. As the fields became muddy and the poncho’s came on, it only seemed to spur people on and give them the energy to have a good time, all was embraced and a festival glow spread like jam and fuelled our fire as we danced the day away.
 
Things kicked off with Underworld on the Ministry of Sound’s Main Stage, with it being their exclusive appearance in London for 2011 crowds were strong. Their techno rock cocktail was a brilliant way to kick off the afternoon and as the throngs filtered in it was quite literally music to eager ears. The energy and excitement of Underworld's gig set the bar for the entire event, and what followed didn’t disappoint.
 
Underworld were followed by Laidback Luke, Zabiela and Pete Tong to name but a few legendary acts known for their energy and power to get the crowds going, while over in the Cocoon area, Sven Vath, Loco Dice and Josh Wink held their own.
 
A definite highlight was undoubtedly the rip-roaring response Above & Beyond received when they kicked things off in Group Therapy Arena. This entrancing trio have edged their way slowly but steadily onto the electro scene over the past few years and their fantastic catalogue of hits and lesser known tracks has made them a must-see and didn’t fail to wow us. Mixing it up with some Sirens of the Sea classics as well as some Group Therapy numbers of latter release, the ravers were more than satisfied.
 
For a bit of variety, Over in the Shake It! Arena, Tiga, M.A.N.D.Y. and Layo and Buschwacka did their thing. The line up in this arena offered some unique electro dance remixes that could really get you shaking and delivered an ever so slightly more toned down tunes to rave to. Following the aforementioned quirky acts and bringing in some underground house tunes to finish off was European DJ Spencer Parker.
 
Another highlight was Ferry Cortsen’s special appearance – a phenomenal way to close the Group Therapy Arena, the finale offering the same calibre with which the arena opened. The long standing globally celebrated trance hero sent ripples throughout the entire arena with his powerful and intoxicating beats. The energy of the event had not yet died and crowds were on fantastic form to appreciate it. Bringing out some classics from his extensive discography, as well as offering up some new mixes, the set was edgy, energetic and enchanting. The set ended all too soon, but this was definitely a case of quality over quantity, and the calibre of the entire set couldn’t be doubted.
 
Reports tell me the quality of Sunday’s event was just as a high, and despite the direct competition with Creamfield’s, Clapham Common absolutely held its own for the entire weekend. Each year the line-up for SW4 seems to get more captivating and with the outstanding shows from such globally acclaimed legends this year, the calibre of the line-up is bound to peak yet again next year! Get yours early, because this is a fantastically priced, superbly located event that promises to deliver.

Greenbelt Festival 2011 Review by Christina Boonstra

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The August bank holiday weekend is a feast for all festival lovers. With events littered across the country, you can gorge yourself on festivals till you pass out from exhaustion. From the majors like Leeds, Reading and Cream Fields, to the niche folk festivals scattered all across the country, the festival goer must choose carefully, before carelessly throwing away such a precious weekend in the festival calender.
 
So out of all the things happening that weekend, why would anyone decide to go to Greenbelt?
 
That's the very thing we were thinking as we accustomed ourselves with the festival lay out on Friday afternoon. After pitching tent, and gathering our bearings, we turned our eyes to the program and begin to feel a little dizzy with choice.
 
Greenbelt claims to cram arts, faith, and justice, into one short weekend at Cheltenham racecourse, resulting in 30 venues packed with debates, discussions, performances, music, food and comedy. 
 
On Friday, we wandered around like lost children trying to make sense of it all. Made ourselves feel a little better, by taking pictures sitting on a tiny horse statue, and then, got down to the serious business of figuring this festival out. Flight Brigade, a seven piece folk band began the night early on the Underground stage, and by the time it came to Billy Bragg's rather bizarre headlining set on the Main stage, Greenbelt was really growing on us.
 
Yoga
 
Determined to rise to challenge of taking in everything Greenbelt had to offer, we woke, relatively early on Saturday morning in order to seize the day. But instead, we watched on as much early birds took part in a spot of yoga outside the Performance café, caught the end of a set by Rend Collective, and realised that trying to take part in a meditation workshop when you're starving, does not work. After leaving the class as inconspicuously as possible, we feasted on possibly the best choice of festival food we’ve ever seen, from home made sausage and mash, to falafel, it made a great day, even better.
 
One thing that struck us about this festival is the amount of children present. There was a real family feel, but not in an annoying screaming for ice cream kind of way. A very relaxed vibe, where you'll see retired hippies, chatting to young parents as the Franciscan monks walk by (yes we said Franciscan monks).   Mingled in with artists like the Duke Special, having a pint at the festival's very own local, the Jesus Arms.
 
Playhouse
 
Greenbelt is unique in many ways, it brings together great performances such as Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and Idlewild, with up and coming music talent and comedy, as well as a host of drama and dance performances housed in unique venues with a home made feel about them. At this festival you're more likely to be queuing up for a show at The Playhouse than for a pint. But, if all the festivals you've been to lately seem to have blurred into one, maybe next summer spend your precious bank holiday weekend on Greenbelt, it will definitely be different.
 
(4 stars)

Leeds Festival 2011 Review by Gary Rampling

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I made my way down there on Thursday in time for Friday’s music and the atmosphere was buzzing with many festival-goers joking around and talking with a real sense of excitement about the forthcoming bands there. I entered, squeezed my tent into the crowded yellow camp and left to have a look around the festival.

I was surprised at the huge open space called ‘the village’ that occupied a few acres. It had food stalls covering its perimeter with most people relaxing and enjoying the prospect of having a special weekend. There were even a few football goals set up where people were playing a couple of 5-a-side games of football which seemed quite unusual for a festival. When the night came there were a couple of stages open and places to go that were outside of the main arena. The Relentless stage in the village proved a hit with its thumping dance music played to massive crowds till the early hours of the morning, with this stage open and it being popular every night of the bank holiday weekend. It perhaps showed that dance music perhaps should not be entirely in the background at Leeds Festival.
 
FRIDAY
I woke up the next day and made my way towards the main arena. The main arena was really well laid out with people having to make their way down a slight slope to get to the main stage. Though, it was about a five minute walk to the main arena the distance was not a bother but was welcomed as it made the whole arena seem less cluttered then some other festivals.
 
The first band on the main stage was We Are the Ocean, and with the amount of rain that was pouring down on the crowd, it did seem like we were indeed – the ocean. The rain didn't hold this band back as they put on a spirited set, and bar a couple of technical hiccups, played with plenty of energy to wake the early birds up.
 
Next over to the NME/Radio 1 tent came Best Coast who tried to add a bit of sunshine to the day with their summery lo-fi songs. Keen to stay out of the apocalyptic downfall of rain that just would not quit, I headed towards the deliciously named Ham Sandwich in the BBC Introducing tent whose light cute instrumentation suited the lead singer’s gentle voice; they seem like a band who will gather a strong following in the coming years, they’re even suitable for vegetarians. 
 
Now to a band on the main stage of which I am a huge fan: Interpol. They played a brilliantly atmospheric set list that evenly covered their four albums. It was hard to take my fan goggles off for these guys, though perhaps the crowd wasn’t too up for them. It was a treat for fans nonetheless. It was now Elbow’s turn. The rain had finally completely stopped by now, but for me an eight hour drenching of rain was preferable to the drenching of a suspiciously warm cup of liquid that was hurled towards my section during Elbow’s set. Elbow’s Guy Garvey tried to warm the crowd up in a more endearing manner by trying to get us all to move, being particularly insistent on us all keeping our hands up in the air for long periods (perhaps he should have called the band ‘Hands’ not Elbow)
 
MuseNext was Muse whose live reputation is out of this world. They opened with an eerie voice (from Tom Wait’s ‘What’s he Building?’) talking whilst there were flashes of large shadows of the band, contained in a curtain. Finally the curtain raised and much to the crowds anticipation they launched into 'New Born,' the first track from Muse's second album 'Origin of Symmetry' which they had previously claimed they would play the whole way through. And they did.
 
Due to the massive guitar riffs on the album and Muse's amazing ability to put on a show, the whole thing was incredible. Particular highlights included 'Micro Cuts' where Matt Bellamy showed off astonishingly high pitched vocals for dramatically long periods before the song came crashing to its epic guitar crunching close.
 
It wasn't just Matt who was thoroughly impressive musically, Chris and Dominic were too, and they particularly got to demonstrate this during a drum and bass jam for a few minutes while Matt went off stage. The sheer power of them during this jam left me thinking that these two could do a whole live set as a duo and still produce a better show than most bands (though I'm not suggesting they should lose Matt)
 
Muse’s set was littered with all sorts of cool things;lasers, flames the size of the stage, fireworks, interesting videos, lights and of course plenty of gigantic eyeballs filled with confetti that were thrown into the crowd. No band should ever perform without some form of gigantic eyeball being thrown around somewhere. Muse really did throw everything at this headline slot, bar the kitchen sink, and to be honest an on-stage kitchen sink wouldn’t have been all that spectacular. At the very end – after Muse had come on and played nine of their greatest hits – a fireworks display came bursting out from the top of the stage and as this came to a close I was left with my heart racing and with a sense of awe. Fantastic!
 
SATURDAY

The next day started off sunny while I made my way to see Miles Kane's set of high trousers, kicks and Indie licks. He had a cool swagger about him that made it hard to take your eyes off of him, even during his weaker songs. The next highlight of the day was Deftones. I've heard a lot about these guys but never seen them live before and they absolutely blew me away. I'm sure that, based on that set, they would have gained fans from the few people there who weren’t familiar with them before.

 
After having left the main stage for a bit to purchase an expensive Yorkshire pudding the size of a paddling pool, and still with the Deftones wonderfully gripping set in the back of my mind, it was now time for 30 Seconds to Mars. Similarly to Deftones I could not believe how great they were. Jared Leto spoke to the crowd in between songs and gave the whole set an intimate feel, almost as if he was addressing everyone personally in a crowd that had thousands; it was something really special. Towards the end they made the performance even more special for dozens of crowd members at the front when Jared invited them onstage for 'Kings and Queens,' and credit to the on-stagers; they all went mad.
 
Next up were Jared Leto's "good friends" and headliners My Chemical Romance. They came out in their album themed attire putting on a triumphant display. No sign of the trouble they had at Leeds twin festival Reading in their 2006 performance, where they got bottled by many angry Slayer Fans (who were stupidly placed next to them on the bill that year). They stormed through many songs off their latest album ('Danger Days') and put on an all round good show.
 
My Chemical Romance
 
SUNDAY

On the final day Leeds Festival we were treated to not one but two festival headliners. Just as Pulp had stepped aside for The Strokes to go on stage last at Reading on the Saturday, The Strokes returned the favour and Pulp went on last at Leeds on the Sunday. Pulp played a strong set and won over many of the youths of the festival who may have only heard a couple of their songs, as when queried on the best performance of the weekend; Pulp was a popular choice. It also seemed to make more sense to have Pulp last over The Strokes, as Jarvis Cocker and co. seemed genuinely excited to be there; dancing around the stage in his unique style, whereas The Strokes were somewhat static and let their anthems and cool approach do the talking (or singing). Earlier highlights in the day included the sing-alongs to Madness' 'Our House' and opener 'One Step Beyond', though the lesser known tracks did not go down as well with the crowd; it was worth it for the well-known ones.

Pulp

All in all the festival was a major success and although the amount of rain did make it an extremely Welly-squelching affair, it was clear that behind all those festival goers mud covered faces there were big white smiles..

Photos courtesy of Hall or Nothing

V Festival 2011 Chelmsford Saturday Review

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Today saw the 16th edition of V Festival hit Hylands Park in Chelmsford.  V Festival is known for providing a diverse lineup to suit everyone and thats exactly what we had this Saturday.

Arctic Monkeys

From the headlining Arctic Monkeys, through to to Jessie J, Chase & Status, Aloe Blac, Ziggy Marley and even a comedy tent, it was not hard to be pleased.

Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys brought Saturday to an almight close as they trailed through hits from their latest album 'Suck It and See' as well as hits from their previous albums.  Notable tracks like 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' went down a treat with the crowd in the main arena that streched right to the back.

Aloe Blacc's soulful and cool presense on stage was the perfect fit for a sun drenched crowd who were lapping up his energy.  The crowd got into full swing when Aloe performed his hit 'I Need A Dollar'.

Over on the V Stage, Bruno Mars came out to a wet welcome as the rain started to come down at Hylands Park.  Opening with his hit 'The Lazy Song' the crowd, unfazed by the change in weather, continued to sing song after song with Bruno.

With the rain subsiding, the welcoming sun shone over Hylands Park.  We headed to The Arena where hip hop star Wiz Khalifa was performing.  Wiz has a laidback style about him and he came out performing with a mic on a stand!  Fresh off his Rolling Papers album Wiz Khalifa banged out tune after tune with 'Black & Yellow' the biggest song of his set.

Back on the 4 Music Stage, Example had the majority of the crowd bouncing to his army of tracks which included his latest single 'Natural Disaster'.

Bruno Mars

Still with a cast on her leg, Jessie J arrived to a packed out arena on the 4 Music Stage to perform whilst sitting on her throne.  Even though she was confined to sitting down, her performance is still amazing and energetic, you can see how much she just wants to get up and dance! She stated 'It's my first time performing in Essex, this time last year I was in the crowd!'

Back over to the V Stage, Plan B had taken to the stage.  One of the biggest UK artist's of the moment, Plan B has featured on a number of festival lineup's this year.  His performance is bar none one of the better of the day.  Moving through tracks from his 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' the enjoyment of the crowd can be heard throughout the park as they applause and join in to sing along with him.  His tracks 'The Recluse', 'Prayin', 'She Said' were some of the biggest of his set.

V Festival is one of the must go to festivals on the summer calendar!  Its diverse lineup and dual location makes it an easy choice for festival goers from around the UK.

V Festival on Sunday will host Rihanna and Eminem as headliners.  Its a sure fire thing that they will bring down the curtains to an almighty applause as we witness yet another great year at V Festival!

Photos courtesy of Cake PR

Bloodstock Open Air 2011 Review by Anna Hyams

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Bloodstock is renowned for it’s no-nonsense approach to the scene, entwining bands from all areas of rock and metal into a bill like no other. There’s no pop-punk to be found here, no wet-eared emo kids and definitely no over-sized sunglasses wearing, prissy ‘my-hunters-will-get-dirty’ Moss-alikes. Bloodstock is a haven for real lovers of metal.
 The Defiled
Friday’s starter for ten The Defiled playing to their biggest BOA crowd yet, exploded onto the stage with a distinctly arrogant air about them, growling and grimacing into the microphones for catchy new track ‘Call To Arms’ and earning the respect of the morning main stage crowd with an energetic show, while the distinctly more rock n roll style of Bloodstock veterans Wolf, brought out the animal in us with ‘Skullcrusher’ dedicated to a techie who’d earlier sustained a head injury in an accident. Notable but not entirely special performances from Triptykon and Kreator seemed to gather fair sized but not huge crowds, whilst Lawnmower Deth’s brand of ear-bleeding thrash on the Sophie stage sticks it to the man in style. Props to Primitai on the New Blood stage for a great set, they deserved a bigger crowd.
 
Despite retro rockers W.A.S.P’s steely eyed stare and (albeit tamed) list of hits, they weren’t the epic performance we wanted them to be, particularly with the culling of ‘Animal’ and Blackie Lawless’ pvc under-suit is frankly a
little bit creepy at his age. The shout out of “If you want your country back, you’ve got to take it” referring to the recent rioting, was also met with apathy around site – most obviously from the man next to us who shouted back “Shut up you American arse!”. Stand out performance of the day goes to the Devin Townsend Project, returning to BOA after 2010’s comedy of technical errors, Devin and the gang absolutely smash it up with a whimsical tour through his deranged mind and facial expressions often reserved for Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura.
 
Saturday’s offering of Finntroll saw a topless Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns belting out the folksy vocals with hair windmilling, and former Emperor frontman Ihsahn gave a relatively demure performance, preferring to head-down shred rather than move about the stage.
 
WintersunDespite another batch of technical difficulties, metal dream-team Wintersun were seen to regain their honour after pulling out of BOA 2009 with their harmonic vocals, and the vast member-count of Therion provided much mirth as they swirled about the vortex of the stage each taking a turn to grace the front with their symphonic metal and odd collection of fancy dress. Aside the amusement, even the toughest members of the crowd were seen to be staring open mouthed in the direction of the fine ladies of Therion, and singing along with more than a few songs. Straight from the jaws of Wacken, Italy’s power metal powerhouse Rhapsody of Fire put on a musically flawless set with huge crowd pleasers ‘Holy Thunderforce’ and ‘Emerald Sword’ to a dedicated audience (hundreds of Rhapsody tshirts on show) brandishing blow up swords.
 
Badger-faced black metal headliners Immortal spent most of their set looking disparagingly at the crowd in an effort to seem cool, which is hard to do when you’re wearing black leather pants covered in what looks like talcum-powder, but hey-ho.
Though they’re not every metalhead’s keg of ale, they did put on a good show and end BOA Saturday with a flaming bang.
 
Napalm DeathWith a glimmer of sunshine, Brummie grindcore gods Napalm Death began their audio assault on Bloodstock Sunday, with all the fire and fury they could muster, stopping only to breathe and calmly say “We’re Napalm Death from Birmingham, and this song is about Peace…” before launching into another incomprehensible scream. Hammerfall provided light relief with a good old sing along (it’s easy, apart from Craig David, they probably weave their own name into more songs than any other band) with the likes of ‘Let The Hammer Fall’, ‘Hammerfall’ and the incredibly funny ‘Hearts On Fire’ which sounds quite a lot like ‘Arse On Fire’ from across the arena.
 
At The Gates’ brutal death metal reunion was welcomed onto the main stage with a huge crowd as they rolled through a selection of their vast catalogue for a good old headbang, and venerated death metallers Morbid Angel threw down with everything they had. Hailing from sunny Florida, you’ve got to wonder how they fit in with the Disney crowd there…
 
Home grown rockers Motörhead are certainly deserving of a headline slot at BOA, especially as they closed Wacken only a week ago, but something was definitely amiss. Gritty voiced Lemmy looked bored as sin and apart from the obvious hype for ‘Ace of Spades’ the people of BOA were largely unresponsive. After a day of hard, fast and heavy thrash – were Motörhead the musical equivalent of a 50mph zone on the motörway?
 
Motorhead
 
Anyway, the epic performance of the day, nay the weekend goes to the raw talent of San Francisco’s Exodus with an absolutely scorching set of drum-pounding, ear-drum-busting old-school thrash. So many people came out blinking into the sunlight saying “I never really liked them before, but… wow.” and we were utterly converted by the sheer power rolling off them into the crowd. Tattooed frontman Rob Dukes grimaced and swore his way through a stunningly heavy set, inciting the scariest circle pit you can imagine, all fist-meets-face. If you get a chance to see them – take it, you won’t be disappointed.
 
Exodus
 
All in all, Bloodstock Open Air 2011, with its eclectic mix of new and old metal from many different genres and backgrounds has claimed another victory. In a lineup which is arguably weaker than previous years it would be easy to say that it just didn’t work, but the spirit was there, the community was there and everyone was having a great time experiencing bands that you might see once in a blue moon otherwise, thanks to the Cowell’s of the world. Roll on BOA 2012…
 
See Anna's photos from Bloodstock 2011 here:

 

Camp Bestival 2011 Review

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As we head towards Lulworth Castle on Saturday, I am not quite entirely sure what to expect. Billed as a family friendly festival, I can only assume that Camp Bestival will be aimed more at the children and families rather than just the avid music lover. With a sold 30,000 crowd in attendance we were quite excited to find out what Camp Bestival is all about.
 
Camp Bestival
 
It’s a nice slightly overcast day at Lulworth Castle and upon entering, immeditely we are surrounded by children lining up for the ice cream van! Making our way towards the main stage, the sound of children having fun echos through the grounds, the kids are being entertained with things like mini golf, music shows, puppet shows and storey telling. The main stage faces in the direction of the impressive Lulworth Castle, banking down a slight hill, familes have setup picnics, there is food and drink everywhere, blankets are layed down and people are having a wonderful relaxing time.
 
Over the weekend the kids had plenty of keep them entertained all day. A medival theme brought about an array of both parents and children dressed as knights, jesters, princeses and more. With Dick and Dom performing on the main stage, as well as an appearance from the Zing Zilla’s and The Gruffalo, you cannot help but simle as the kids lap up the entertainment and sing and dance along. An area specifically dedicated to the children is filled with rides and the ‘Little Big Top’.  The Skrek and Fiona Singalong show is a treat and has the kids rocking along to ‘Im a believer’.
 
There is plently of entertainment for the younger and older adults as well, with performances from Blondie, Mark Ronson, Groove Armada, Katy B, Primal Scream and more. The lineup is aimed at both the young and old, and this winning formula has worked at Camp Bestival since its installment in 2007.
 
Camp Bestival 
Saturday saw The Wonder Stuff get the older crowd off their feet with a great performance of hits, followed by late running Miss Dynamite whos short but energetic set had the teenagers up front and centre. The lovely Eliza Doolittle graced the stage and with her soulful voice played her hits ‘Skinny Jeans’ and ‘Pack Up’. A mass crowd packed to see reformed House of Pain whose lyrics might not have been appropraite for some of the children there, had the entire crowd (young and old) jumping to their hit ‘Jump Around’. Mark Ronson’s tribute to Amy Winhouse was fitting as she passed a week ago, but this didnt stop him from playing an entertaining set. Joined on stage by The View’s ‘Kyle Falconer’ Mark Ronson performed Valerie and had the entire crowd singing along with him. Sound issues at the begining of Groove Armada’s set put a small damper on things, however once they were sorted, Groove Armada were back to their best, playing to a crowd which had now thined out as the young ones took refuge to rest back in their tents. Jaguar Skills in the Bollywood tent had the crowd dancing so hard that sweat began to pour off the ceiling!
 
Camp Bestival
 
 
Sunday at Camp Bestival was more of the same, great music and entertainment for all. Wretch 32 took to the main stage and opened with his latest hit with Example, ‘Unorthodox’, he had kids and parents alike bopping to his hop-hop beats. One of the acts I was most looking forward to seeing was Katy B whose set was jam packed of hits from her album ’On a Mission’. Her hits Perfect Stranger, Lights On, and Katy on a Mission had the crowd dancing from begining till end of her 45 minute performance. Beardyman’s impressive layered and tech infused beat making ability and skills on the mic had the bass pumping from the main stage sound system. Primal Scream closed Camp Bestival playing their classic ‘Screamedelica’ album in full as well as diving into their back catalogue to perform hits like ‘Rocks’.
 
Camp Bestival
 
A massive fireworks display at the end of Primal Scream’s performance signalled the end of another excellent and well organsied Camp Bestival. Showering over Lulworth Castle, the fireworks combined with projected images on the castle wall and the sound of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ made for a spectacular finale. For me Camp Bestival was one of the highlights of the festival season so far, combined with good music and a great atmosphere, this is one festival I would recommend!